Robert Stein (1950)

Robert Stein (1972)

Robert Stein (2000s)

About Me

editor, publisher, media critic and journalism teacher,
is a former Chairman of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and author of “Media Power: Who Is Shaping Your Picture of the World?” Before the war in Iraq, he wrote in The New York Times: “I see a generation gap in the debate over going to war in Iraq. Those of us who fought in World War II know there was no instant or easy glory in being part of 'The Greatest Generation,' just as we knew in the 1990s that stock-market booms don’t last forever.
We don’t have all the answers, but we want to spare our children and grandchildren from being slaughtered by politicians with a video-game mentality."
This is not meant to extol geezer wisdom but suggest that, even in our age of 24/7 hot flashes, something can be said for perspective.
The Web is a wide space for spreading news, but it can also be a deep well of collective memory to help us understand today’s world. In olden days, tribes kept village elders around to remind them with which foot to begin the ritual dance. Start the music.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

America in the Twilight Zone

A weekend session brings out the worst in the nation's supposedly best lawmakers as the Senate rejects two attempts to deal with expiring Bush tax cuts.

Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill sums up the weirdness: “I feel like I am in the twilight zone. It’s depressing to me that we have gotten to this level of posturing, that they are saying if you do not give people a tax break on their second million, that nobody gets one.”

What's really horrifying is that it's going to get even worse. During today's debate, Lindsay Graham takes a detour to blame the Tea Party for making it hard to frustrate the White House next year.

"The House had a dramatic election. We picked up seats in the Senate," Graham complains. "Some of us thought, maybe we could pick up two or three more, but we made some pretty poor choices when it came to candidates."

Meanwhile, the President continues to take the high road to nowhere, declaring, "We need to redouble our efforts to resolve this impasse--in the next few days. It will require some compromise, but I'm confident that we can get it done."

Trouble is, the other side won't compromise, seeing today's votes as a stunt. "Americans," says GOP Leader Mitch McConnell with a straight face (or as straight a face as McConnell can manage), "don't want to see meaningless theatrics in Congress," overlooking the reality that his party has been doing nothing but that for two years.

For elitists with a shred of optimism for the future, a look at the best-selling political books may shrivel their hopes.

George W. Bush is atop the list followed by Glenn Beck (2), Sarah Palin (3) and Bill O'Reilly (5), with Laura Bush (11) and Condoleeza Rice (12) leading the second tier.

These are the choices of Americans who can presumably read voting with their money. What does it tell us about the rest?